33 thoughts on “Bitwig Studio Update On VST Support – But Still No Release Date”

Bitwig definitively looks like the answer. Take a look at their features. Ableton spent 3 years to release a couple of details they call “features” and the only thing that can justify that release is the new controller. Otherwise, they have nothing, zero. It’s an outdated program with an outdated code.

i have a funny feeling this is secrete daw Native Instruments is gonna attach with Maschine and other products…. it makes sense… and look at the gui it looks like maschine already. it gonna be a dope watch

Now, I know that I’m very cynical when it comes to Bitwig. Personally I think it’s all too easy to take already existing ideas and then use those as a foundation to build something different. And when I look at the fact that Bitwig won’t support ReWire (a commonly and widely accepted standard) but instead solely relies on existing 3rd party solutions (JACK) I can’t help wonder “why?”. There are no extra costs involved in adding ReWire support to your product and you’re basically making it much more accessible. I can respect that Bitwig developers may feel that JACK is a better solution; but why not give the end users a choice in the matter by supporting both?

But the more I read about Bitwig the less impressed I become. Because you see; a DAW like Ableton Live isn’t about technical features alone, its also about sound. When you take a look at the upcoming Live 9 you’ll notice that it comes packed with tons of sound material ready for us to use. I’d like to especially point out that Ableton Suite 9 will also include the Ableton Orchestral instrument collection (Orchestral Brass, Percussion, Woodwinds and Strings).

But what does Bitwig offer when it comes to sounds ?

When you look at the site you’ll see tons of very intriguing technical features; several clip launchers, clip automation (which will also be supported in Live 9), layered editing, time stretching, etc.

With good VST support, the ‘sound’ should be defined by the end-user, not the DAW.

Huge sound libraries in DAWs see mainly to be a way to get users to buy the ‘next step up’, whether it’s the ‘pro’ version or the ‘suite’ version. You’re better off getting your own VSTs, though. That way, you have a system that fits the type of music that you want to make, instead of a generic set of orchestral sounds, spiced up with some dubstep wub bases.

Hopefully bigwig reflects the lack of sound library in the price. But seriously abletons crappy synths and samples are not a buying point. Ableton is my DAW of choice and it will take a lot for me to migrate to a new one but I haven’t used an ableton sound in 6 years. In fact, I hate that you are forced to get them if you want the full suite. Ableton can keep their sounds if I can keep my 200$. This has to be one of the first times I’ve heard someone say they like abletons sound library.

If you are so worried about “sounds” from a DAW then save some money with a simple daw and go buy NI Komplete. More sounds than what you’ll know what to do with. So far Ableton 9 has only shown a few upgrades to Ableton 8 as selling points, but still has not addressed a lot of issues that the users want (which is what BitWig brings to the table).

Also, keep in mind BitWig is already working on updates from the initial launch. This DAW is only going to keep growing with their awesome coders… If you didnt know, the coders from Bitwig are the coders from Ableton who left and started their own business. Their leaving correlates to Ableton’s endless Ableton 8 fixes and over 3 year version update… hmm I wonder why

>Because you see; a DAW like Ableton Live isn’t about technical features alone, its also about sound. When
>you take a look at the upcoming Live 9 you’ll notice that it comes packed with tons of sound material ready
>for us to use.

I couldn’t disagree more. I’m tired of paying for “sounds” I’m never going to use. I create all my material from scratch and would love to stop paying for built in sound libraries that I never bother to instal, much less use.

I have a feeling Bitwig will cost significantly less than Ableton Suite 9, exactly because it won’t include a huge sound library. I, for one, am not a huge fan of built-in libraries of sounds that everyone and their mom will be using, not to mention a bloated library of samples I’ll never use. I’d rather handpick and buy the sounds I actually will use in my productions.

Is it an Ableton Live ripoff? Absolutely, but you could say that Ableton paved the way for a new generation of DAWs, much like MOTU Performer set the standard for almost every DAW that followed.

As someone whose been on many software development teams, one thing I’ve learned is that specs are mostly meaningless until 1.0 and release to the world. Bitwig looks fabulous, has tons of features that seem brilliant, but it’s only a wireframe and some marketing propaganda at this point. Making software that works with the countless unique configs out there is very, very difficult. Taking sides and joining Team Bitwig at this point is silly, no matter how much you may hate team Ableton. And even considering buying Biwig upon its release without first reading a shitload of reviews is even sillier, IMHO 🙂

All DAW’s do not sound the same… They all have different output algorithms, different “panning laws”, some always add dither to an export some do not.
But I agree “included sound libraries” are not something to judge a DAW by…

I see the “Negative Nancy” troll has been through to dislike every comment made to every post today, don’t know how I could live just one day with out his/her silly antics. its nice to know some jerk takes the time out of doing nothing productive to grace us with their their thoughtful opinion… Thumbs Down

I hope they keep plugging away at the Linux version. The idea of a custom lightweight OS running Bitwig and PD seems fairly appealing to me. The idea of dealing with driers under Linux does not seem appealing but if they could get it stable with really tight timing then it might be something to look into.

I bet a whole lot of people understand the reason for being able to minimize the OS load on a music making computer. Properly customizable and cheaper than a Mac or a Windows PC. I for one could do without Microsoft or Apple.

That is because “real programmers” have a love and understanding that free and or open source software like Linux is the future.
Especialy with all the pattent trolling of the big companies these days.
They are digging there own graves!

If so, a very lightweight, minimal Linux distro, he’ll, maybe one oprtimisd JUST for the bigwig, would be amazing! Imagine a dedicated daw computer just by logging into a different OS! It would feel like the DaW is right on top of the hardware

Making a linux version is clearly hedging a bet by cornering a market. But they will have to provide a TON of support, because setting up a linux box is not an everyday task. If it was truly super easy and affordable, Linux would have made serious inroads in other markets a long time ago. But as it stands, it’s largely only used for servers and custom installations. They also have the added problem that there will be little to no third party support for Linux plug-ins, leaving a Linux BitWig rig feeling pretty lonely. My prediction… a handful of big names will use the Linux version and make a lot of noise about it, but everyone else will post on forums about how great it is but not actually use it. I would expect development on the linux version to be cancelled within a year.

I hadn’t heard that the Mac version is delayed. If that’s true… Delaying a mac version is a tremendously bad bet. There is a limited window of time for a user to adopt a new DAW, and one of those windows is Q1 and Q2 of next year (2013).

– Current PC based Ableton users will either update to live 9 or jump to BitWig (or ignore both, which is great for Live and bad for bitwig)
– There are a lot of Logic users looking for an upgrade to “something” thanks to the absence of a Logic X, and a lot of garage band users who could be swayed to step up. Logic users might update to Logic X if it appears, or jump to Live (but not bigwig if the mac version is delayed)
– Anyone interested in a new daw in the style of live/bitwig will be most easily swayed by price and availability, which could be update/new deals on Live. If a mac version is missing in this time period, or if Bitwig slips release past this date for all versions, they are probably out of the game, or will at best face an extremely hard slugging match to gain a user base.

Bitwig’s succes all comes down to timing and price. They need to arrive before or at the same time as Live 9 (and arguably Logic X), and they need to be priced lower than anyone else, at least for a year or two. Even if they are rock-solid and packed with features, price and timing are key. Also, if a Mac version were delayed it would send a message to Mac users that the platform would always be second-best and have less support. That’s something Mac users have been accustomed to and don’t like, and virtually guarantees that your mac product dies on the vine because customers go where they are better supported.

Linux hard to install? Only useful for servers and custom installations? In what year; 1996? Linux has become easier than ever to install on numerous different machines; look at the success of Ubuntu and it’s (many, many) derivatives…there’s plenty of support available online; most of the big boys in PC hardware offer support for Linux and several are even hardware partners with Canonical (Ubuntu’s parent company) I mean HP, Dell, Asus, Lenovo; all partners. There are lot’s of custom distributions of Linux exclusively for audio production; with optimized kernels for real-time audio and all the packages and dependencies already installed. The main issues new Linux users are going to run into is integrating some of their hardware; Most USB 1.1 audio/midi interfaces and also Firewire are pretty much plug and play nowadays; but USB 2.0 interfaces are not class compliant for the most part, so it’s VERY hit and miss. (Though I’ve got a Focusrite Scarlett running flawlessly out of the box)

As far as synths/plugins we’re very solid in that department still, since any Linux audio program worth it’s salt is JACK capable, we can use whichever synths or audio plugins externally and then route them via Patchage or Qjackctl right into Bitwig. Problem solved.

Existing users are already gonna be used to such things and already have our hardware/software setups pretty solid, so Bitwig is gonna fill a nice niche for us; a totally dedicated audio and midi sequencer with excellent on the fly editing capabilities. If it catches on; we’ll have even more hardware support coming our way.

I’m at the point with my music creation that I don’t really care about built-in, DAW sounds.
I like Bitwig’s VST functionality.

I want to see what the built in effects are like. I am talking the bread-and-butter.
Gate, Auto-filter Utility, EQ, Frequency Shifter, Redux, Tube Distortion, Chorus, Limiter, Compressor, etc. (not the extra built-in VSTs or effects like AMP, tiny Reverb)

NOT hatin’ on Bitwig,, but I’m tellin ya, there is something about it that i feel is like…vaporware. Well,maybe not vaporware as such, but i just think it will fall through somehow. I can’t put my finger on it, it’s just a crazy feeling, but you heard it here first. Hope I’m wrong!